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You are here: Home / Politics / Republican Stupidity / Robocalls – Upping The Ante

Robocalls – Upping The Ante

by Tim F|  November 7, 20061:34 pm| 48 Comments

This post is in: Republican Stupidity

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In Nebraska they’re using the actual voice of the Democratic candidate. The GOP is not being kind to people who want to go on thinking that the scam is innocuous.

***Update***

In case anybody wondered whether dishonest phone harrassment works.

“Our own Alec Oveis, who sadly left the Prospect few months ago, calls in from Connecticut, where he’s volunteering on behalf of Chris Murphy (one of Tom’s “Dropkick Murphys” positioned to defeat GOP incumbents this year). He reports that voter fury over robocalls is amazing and palpable at the polling site he’s near. Several people have gone out of their way to tell him and other Murphy people that they’re voting for Republican incumbent Nancy Johnson strictly out of anger at the harassing phone calls they’ve been receiving from the Murphy campaign. Alec and other’s explanations that those calls are actually paid for by Republicans have generally been falling on deaf ears (they are, after all, holding Murphy signs while offering these explanations).”

***Update 2***

This is more sad than outrageous. You almost feel sorry for the Republicans. But then I read the quote above and – poof – that feeling goes away fast.

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Reader Interactions

48Comments

  1. 1.

    ThymeZone

    November 7, 2006 at 1:45 pm

    If the GOP discovered through focus groups and experimentation that taking a shit on the hood of your car would generate +2% Republican voting, they’d do it.

    All I can say is the same thing I said several years ago, which is, if they want a frigging civil war on the political fields of battle in this country, they shall have it. And I think ultimately they shall lose. So keep it up, keep being assholes. Really. Pull out ever asshole trick in the book and Bring It On, to quote a great president.

  2. 2.

    The Asshole Formerly Known as GOP4Me

    November 7, 2006 at 1:46 pm

    Several people have gone out of their way to tell him and other Murphy people that they’re voting for Republican incumbent Nancy Johnson strictly out of anger at the harassing phone calls they’ve been receiving from the Murphy campaign. Alec and other’s explanations that those calls are actually paid for by Republicans have generally been falling on deaf ears (they are, after all, holding Murphy signs while offering these explanations).

    Fuck!

  3. 3.

    The Asshole Formerly Known as GOP4Me

    November 7, 2006 at 1:46 pm

    All I can say is the same thing I said several years ago, which is, if they want a frigging civil war on the political fields of battle in this country, they shall have it. And I think ultimately they shall lose. So keep it up, keep being assholes. Really. Pull out ever asshole trick in the book and Bring It On, to quote a great president.

    I just hope some of the motherfuckers rot in jail for this shit. Christ, let there be vengeance.

  4. 4.

    cleek

    November 7, 2006 at 1:49 pm

    our system is broken

  5. 5.

    Tulkinghorn

    November 7, 2006 at 1:53 pm

    If Nancy Johnson wins this election because of these calls, and has the audacity to take her seat, the GOP is never going to win another election in Connecticut.

    These assholes are eating their seed corn.

  6. 6.

    RSA

    November 7, 2006 at 1:57 pm

    I want to say, “It’s only cheating if. . .” But what the fuck? It’s cheating!

    This also reminds me of why I hate to hear someone say something like, “If the Democrats can’t win this election, they might as well give up being a national party.” Republicans have turned this into, “If you can’t win money in a crooked card game, you might as well not play.”

  7. 7.

    Mr Furious

    November 7, 2006 at 1:59 pm

    File this under “general stupidity” because the “outraged voters” are dumb as fucking rocks if that’s how they decide how to vote.

    Sorry, Thyme and ‘horn, after tomorrow, this all gets a big fucking “yaawwwwn.”

    Sad, but true.

  8. 8.

    The Asshole Formerly Known as GOP4Me

    November 7, 2006 at 2:01 pm

    These assholes are eating their seed corn.

    I have to admit, that’s an optimistic perspective on this I hadn’t considered.

    The problem is that no one besides hardcore political junkies will remember this 6 months from now. Unless the criminal trials are ongoing, of course.

  9. 9.

    tBone

    November 7, 2006 at 2:04 pm

    The GOP is in full-on panic mode at the thought of losing NE-03. Since 1935, there’s been a grand total of one Democrat elected from that district, and that was only for one term (1959-61).

    To top it all off, the Decider visited on Sunday and endorsed the wrong guy. No wonder they’re reduced to sleazy robocalls.

  10. 10.

    cleek

    November 7, 2006 at 2:10 pm

    these people are enemies of the state. hang them.

  11. 11.

    tBone

    November 7, 2006 at 2:13 pm

    In case anybody wondered whether dishonest phone harrassment works.

    Bu-bu-but no one could ever be confused by one of these calls! That’s unpossible! [/Bender]

  12. 12.

    The Other Steve

    November 7, 2006 at 2:17 pm

    The problem is that no one besides hardcore political junkies will remember this 6 months from now. Unless the criminal trials are ongoing, of course.

    The media pundits will call it a clever use of technology.

  13. 13.

    The Asshole Formerly Known as GOP4Me

    November 7, 2006 at 2:24 pm

    The media pundits will call it a clever use of technology.

    Karl Rove is a genius.

  14. 14.

    Zifnab

    November 7, 2006 at 2:28 pm

    Ah, the 72-hour GOTV. Republicans will be turning out in record numbers proportional to Democrats.

  15. 15.

    Tax Analyst

    November 7, 2006 at 2:34 pm

    “Angry” doesn’t even begin to describe how this makes me feel. And what will be the “penalty”? Maybe a slap on the wrist campaign fine? I sure hope it’s treated more seriously than that…the cynic is me is really taking over, because I can’t say that I really expect that to happen.

  16. 16.

    The Asshole Formerly Known as GOP4Me

    November 7, 2006 at 2:37 pm

    “Angry” doesn’t even begin to describe how this makes me feel. And what will be the “penalty”? Maybe a slap on the wrist campaign fine? I sure hope it’s treated more seriously than that…the cynic is me is really taking over, because I can’t say that I really expect that to happen.

    There, there. This is why there’s a Hell. You know it, I know it, and on some reptilian subconscious level, Rove knows it, too.

  17. 17.

    NetMinder

    November 7, 2006 at 2:44 pm

    Election fraud is treason, and it needs to be treated as such. Maybe a few people sitting in jail for life will get the message across that this crap will NOT be tolerated.

  18. 18.

    t. jasper parnell

    November 7, 2006 at 2:44 pm

    There, there. This is why there’s a Hell. You know it, I know it, and on some reptilian subconscious level, Rove knows it, too.

    Gnostically speaking we are already in hell up to our necks.

    And shouldn’t the tag read Republican Criminality?

  19. 19.

    The Asshole Formerly Known as GOP4Me

    November 7, 2006 at 2:50 pm

    Gnostically speaking we are already in hell up to our necks

    Some of us have nothing going on above the shoulders, though. Guess which way those types voted today.

  20. 20.

    t. jasper parnell

    November 7, 2006 at 2:52 pm

    Guess which way those types voted today.

    Green Party? Harold Stassen? H. Ross Perot? Nader?

  21. 21.

    Bender

    November 7, 2006 at 2:55 pm

    Bu-bu-but no one could ever be confused by one of these calls!

    I only said that no one who isn’t a mental defective could be fooled by these calls. Obviously, Democrats can still be fooled.

    Until I hear a recording of a call, it’s all just election hearsay and hype. Without hearing the ad, this article doesn’t make much sense. How could a recording attacking a candidate use that candidate’s voice in a way that could fool even a mental defective?

  22. 22.

    The Asshole Formerly Known as GOP4Me

    November 7, 2006 at 2:57 pm

    Green Party? Harold Stassen? H. Ross Perot? Nader

    Connecticut for Lieberman, smart guy.

    Even if they lived in Arkansas, they wrote in Joementum.

  23. 23.

    t. jasper parnell

    November 7, 2006 at 3:01 pm

    You know there is a nice latiny sound to Joementum Retentum. Maybe the big Joemo, the kiss is a bit suspect, no?, could use that his tag for the next big run for Presidentum.

  24. 24.

    Bender

    November 7, 2006 at 3:04 pm

    I only said that no one who isn’t a mental defective could be fooled by these calls. Obviously, Democrats can still be fooled.

    On further reading, this doesn’t sound like the calls we were talking about yesterday, that just start off mentioning the other candidate’s name. This appears to be a recorded message entirely from the Democratic candidate. It still makes little sense without the call.

    The only attribution to the GOP is coming from Democrats. Nothing has been proved to have come from any Republican. And what did Tim F. tell me yesterday about GOP tires being slashed and GOP campaign offices vandalized in 2004, and what he’d prolly tell me about Kean’s office being vandalized and padlocked this morning?

    Bender, it looks to me like you have a series of unsupported allegations. But knock yourself out, prove me wrong by pointing to which of those has been connected with the Democratic hierarchy by anybody other than the accusers.

    So show where this call is “connected with the Republican hierarchy,” Tim. You wouldn’t want to be a hypocrite now, would you?

  25. 25.

    The Asshole Formerly Known as GOP4Me

    November 7, 2006 at 3:04 pm

    You know there is a nice latiny sound to Joementum Retentum. Maybe the big Joemo, the kiss is a bit suspect, no?, could use that his tag for the next big run for Presidentum.

    If the Dems run Biden, they could keep using it. Is there any Republican candidate for Prez whose name is Joe?

  26. 26.

    t. jasper parnell

    November 7, 2006 at 3:07 pm

    Joe Negron in Florida, if he wins Foley’s seat he will be a proven winner despite odds most outlandishly against him. Thus he runs. All three could use it Joe B, Joe L and Joe N, thus would they so astonish the voters that the election ends in a three-way tie and a in a move worth of Rove, who thought it up, the Supreme Court declares Bush the winner, yet again.

  27. 27.

    RSA

    November 7, 2006 at 3:08 pm

    I only said that no one who isn’t a mental defective could be fooled by these calls.

    Please leave medical diagnosis to the experts, like Bill Frist.

  28. 28.

    t. jasper parnell

    November 7, 2006 at 3:12 pm

    Re mental defectives, why oh why do you hate the American voter and thus our troops who are voters and, often, Americans who are also often influenced by caddish electioneering, aka lies and calumny.

  29. 29.

    The Asshole Formerly Known as GOP4Me

    November 7, 2006 at 3:15 pm

    Joe Negron in Florida, if he wins Foley’s seat he will be a proven winner despite odds most outlandishly against him. Thus he runs. All three could use it Joe B, Joe L and Joe N, thus would they so astonish the voters that the election ends in a three-way tie and a in a move worth of Rove, who thought it up, the Supreme Court declares Bush the winner, yet again.

    That’s the ultimate proof that the system works.

  30. 30.

    Pb

    November 7, 2006 at 3:24 pm

    If the calls are in NE-03, and they’re being paid for by the NRCC like the others, then they’re probably being made by Florida-based telemarketing company Direct Strategies, Inc.

  31. 31.

    t. jasper parnell

    November 7, 2006 at 3:26 pm

    That’s the ultimate proof that the system works.

    Or that the Gnostics were correct about the world as hell escapable only through the constant kindling of the dim flickering light within.

  32. 32.

    Sojourner

    November 7, 2006 at 3:38 pm

    Until I hear a recording of a call, it’s all just election hearsay and hype.

    This is the same argument the creationists make.

  33. 33.

    RSA

    November 7, 2006 at 3:41 pm

    Until I hear a recording of a call, it’s all just election hearsay and hype.

    This is the same argument the creationists make.

    . . .with robo-calls substituting for the voice of God (though He probably doesn’t call back a dozen times if you hang up).

  34. 34.

    Sherard

    November 7, 2006 at 3:43 pm

    Bender, don’t waste your time. If it’s posted at Kos or at Josh Marshall’s blog, then IT’S TRUTH. Didn’t you know ?

    I followed the link about Ohio problems in an earlier thread. It pointed to a reader post at Marshall’s blog, which was an excerpt from an article at an Ohio paper’s website. Missing from the article was this quote:

    Machines, however, worked well at most polling places.

    “We haven’t had any problems. The voters seem to enjoy the machines,” said Faye Ray, presiding judge at a Mifflin precinct at VFW Post 9857 on Steltzer Road.

    Anecdotal evidence of phone system collapses from too many calls asking “Where do I vote?” That’s the evidence of voting improprieties. Or, to quote Tim – ATROCITIES!

    Pathetic.

  35. 35.

    Sherard

    November 7, 2006 at 3:46 pm

    Until I hear a recording of a call, it’s all just election hearsay and hype.

    This is the same argument the creationists make.

    I’m not sure if this is a joke or just plain stupidity. Are you actually trying to tell me that it’s not possible for someone to record one of these alleged calls ? That would be as hard as proving the existence of God, is that it ?

    The ID people are dolts, but it would seem they don’t have anything on you.

  36. 36.

    t. jasper parnell

    November 7, 2006 at 3:47 pm

    This is the same argument the creationists make.

    Not really, Creationist make a series of nonsensical ascientific claims showing a complete contempt for reason, logic, the scientific method, and the idea of “theory” demanding evidence for claims of political corruption is not the same. Which not to say that the Republicans aren’t behind it just that demand for evidence (although in this case a bit to personalized) needs to be understood differently.

  37. 37.

    Krista

    November 7, 2006 at 3:51 pm

    Looks like the FBI is rather interested in the hearsay and hype…

  38. 38.

    RSA

    November 7, 2006 at 4:03 pm

    Anecdotal evidence of phone system collapses from too many calls asking “Where do I vote?”

    Here’s a clue: “anecdotal evidence” doesn’t mean “direct reporting I don’t like”. From the same article you’ve quoted:

    Franklin County’s phone system was returned to service about 90 minutes after it collapsed today under a crush of calls from voters and poll workers.

    The volume of calls “overwhelmed the system,” Damschroder said.

    Also, in my line of work, it’s surprisingly common to run into people who don’t realize that working well most of the time or for most people isn’t always sufficient. Accessibility with respect to voting is a good example.

  39. 39.

    Tim in SF

    November 7, 2006 at 4:09 pm

    How can I edit the ilikepie script to add Bender?

  40. 40.

    Baby Jane

    November 7, 2006 at 4:19 pm

    Go to about:config in the address bar.

    Find this preference name: greasemonkey.scriptvals.http://hedonistlab.com/download//ILikePie.pielovers

    Add Bender to the value string. Seperate the names with a comma.

  41. 41.

    HyperIon

    November 7, 2006 at 4:34 pm

    Mr Furious Says:

    File this under “general stupidity” because the “outraged voters” are dumb as fucking rocks if that’s how they decide how to vote.

    i agree. but then i’ve never understood how any phone scam can work.

    when gullible seniors get ripped off, i am amazed but not personally affected. however, when potential dem voters are targets, i understand that my ox may be getting gored.

    bottom line, you go to an election with the voters you have, not the voters you would like. democracy is “funny” like that.

  42. 42.

    t. jasper parnell

    November 7, 2006 at 4:57 pm

    Not that any of this is directly relavent to the robocopphoneosauris but Denver is a nightmare and angered poll workers elsewhere take justice into their own hands. I blame that Republican johnny who drinks with the Frat Boys and chokes women.

  43. 43.

    t. jasper parnell

    November 7, 2006 at 4:59 pm

    And, of course, Miami.
    Although these remain anecdotes and not antidotes to corruption. Nor yet proof of the same. Just ’cause your wet doesn’t mean its raining.

  44. 44.

    Pb

    November 7, 2006 at 5:29 pm

    Tim In SF,

    You don’t have to edit the script, just go to the about:config screen in Firefox and edit the variable greasemonkey.scriptvals.http://hedonistlab.com/download//ILikePie.pielovers to read Darrell,Bender (comma separated list of usernames) — that should do it!

  45. 45.

    Tim in SF

    November 7, 2006 at 5:42 pm

    Why the heck isn’t this working?

    script

  46. 46.

    scarshapedstar

    November 7, 2006 at 8:08 pm

    Election fraud is treason, and it needs to be treated as such. Maybe a few people sitting in jail for life will get the message across that this crap will NOT be tolerated.

    Treason? When people steal an election in order to kill thousands of our troops and hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians, they ought to be flayed alive.

  47. 47.

    scarshapedstar

    November 7, 2006 at 8:12 pm

    Er, replace “treason” with “jail”. I’m not normally a death penalty supporter, but this seems like one situation where it might actually act as a deterrent. I can’t see Ken Mehlman laying his fucking life on the line.

Comments are closed.

Trackbacks

  1. The Moderate Voice says:
    November 7, 2006 at 1:47 pm

    New Robocall Scandal: Call Reportedly Made With Democrat’s Voice

    GOP “robocall” ads in Nebraska are reportedly using the Democratic candidate’s own voice to harrass voters.

    The problem of using automated ph…

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